As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2001-245186 etc., previously known is an imaging apparatus configured to convert an image, imaged by a lens, to an electrical signal using a CCD or other semiconductor imaging device so as to capture the image. With demand for smaller and more sophisticated portable devices, imaging apparatuses have been required to be even smaller and lighter in weight. Accordingly, imaging apparatuses have been made thinner by thinning each component. On the other hand, the number of pixels has been increased in accordance with requirements for high image quality, and therefore the size of a pixel has also been miniaturized.
In the field of imaging apparatuses, a black or white dot or the like on an image caused by a flaw in an imaging device or by dirt sticking to an imaging device is commonly called a “blemish.” In order to prevent dirt from sticking to an imaging device resulting in a blemish, various measures have previously been taken in assembly of an imaging apparatus, such as improvement in work environment cleanliness, intensifying cleaning, or active elimination of static electricity using an ionizer or the like. Moreover, if dirt or the like causes a decrease in output from a certain pixel, a blemish correction is made such that the output from the pixel is estimated based on information obtained from the neighboring pixels and is corrected as though the pixel worked normally.
As described above, the occurrence of blemishes caused by dirt has been reduced by reducing the occurrence of relatively large dirt by assembling in a clean environment, and by estimating an output from a pixel using blemish correction when small dirt sticks to an imaging device.